SuperNova v13 - Web Access, Your Way

Published:
11 September 2012 14:24

We are pleased to announce today's release of SuperNova version 13, transforming how people who are blind or partially sighted experience the web. Immediately available in 15 languages, the upgrade is a major step forward for the British company who lead the world in synchronised screen reading and magnification software, and represents the culmination of more than a year's work designing, developing and testing.

"People who are blind need to search, shop and social network online as much as anyone else." explains Dave Williams, SuperNova Product Manager and one of half a dozen people who are blind working for the privately owned company.

"Accessing the same web sites as everyone else is increasingly necessary to maximise education and employment prospects. SuperNova version 13 efficiently speaks, Braille’s, magnifies and highlights standard web pages, ideal for people whose sight is changing, or organisations legally required to accommodate people with a wide range of visual impairments."

The completely re-engineered web support in SuperNova version 13 substantially reduces the time taken for a blind person to browse busy web sites. Additional keystrokes instantly navigate to particular parts of web pages. SuperNova version 13 also implements initial support for Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) a set of web authoring techniques being developed by the international Web Accessibility Initiative.

The release also features new meaningful speech announcements in office applications, advising when the cursor is at the start or end of documents, when leaving lists, or which text styles are being applied to email or spread sheets.